One commenter asked about goings on at the County Commission level. Things do seem pretty routine at the moment. Leroy Alsup's raise got some attention. And this is an interesing political question — do you give your top manager a big raise and risk the ire of the community, or do you not and risk letting him go elsewhere?
The commissioners opted for the former. But not all of them. Carmelita Clarkson voted against the raise. She's been a critic of Alsup and the county administrator position itself for some time. Gary Wilson has said he was initially skeptical of having a county adminstrator but has come to believe the benefits are higher than the costs. Dick Bonfy has been on board all along.
I wouldn't be suprised if somebody filed for office and made criticism of the administrator position a major point. Judy Welch, a former Traveler reporter, ran against Bonfy and did this to some degree in 2006, but didn't get too far. But that raise might provide an opening for somebody. Both Wilson and Clarkson's seats are up this year.
(One commenter asked what I mean by this being a "political" blog. I guess politics is the study of the people and process behind the issues, especially elections. Not a great answer, I know, but the best I can muster at the moment)
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6 comments:
People running for county office have until June to put their name on the list. Has anyone stepped forward? Can we get someone in there to do the job and not just make friends?
The county commisioners voted themselves a raise too.
There seems to be some confusion in the county. For several years the mil levy seemed to stay the same and hold it's own. Now there are rumors of it being raised. What new expenses, besides the new administrator, can we attribute these to? Price increases on the jail construction? New purchases? Poor budgeting? Is this going to be a trend?
Can you post something about Hillary or Obama's health care plans? I am curious to see how their plan deals with illegal immigrants? (not to start any more trouble on here with illegal immigration) I watched the last debate and I am curious how Hillary's plan will cover everyone and how that will help the health care costs of this country if so many illegal immigrants are still not paying for their services or have insurance? Just thought you might be able to research that subject?
These sites have the details about their plans. The big argument has been that Clinton seeks universal coverage and Obama seeks to lower premiums, thereby making it afforadable but not requiring coverage (except for children). Clinton says this leaves out 15 million people, Obama says Clinton's plan will force payroll deductions to pay for those who don't sign up.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/
Let's see, buy a building that will require no county expense for use by the county -- now it takes megabucks to use it.
Hire an administrator, pay him well, reduce the onus of being a commissioner and not only not reduce their salary and benefits (which are not chump change) and then give themselves a 5% raise.
Any openings?
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